Fixing the Broken and Seeing the Light
by Copper's Mama
Summary: Damon/Elena fic. Based on what I think could happen in the next episode, after Stefan is locked up. Please read and review! 2nd and Final chapter added!
1. Chapter 1

_..._

_A Damon/Elena fic. _

_..._

_Disclaimer: Nope, don't own Vampire Diaries. I'm not that awesome. _

_..._

_A/N: Well, this story is what I think could happen in the next episode, with Stefan being trapped in the cellar. _

_I hope you guys like this fic, I know I'll love writing it. _

_As always, please read and review, I live for feedback! _

* * *

Elena and Damon were alone now. Stefan had escaped from the basement cellar and had attacked Elena, driven mad with his bloodlust. He had come close to sinking his fangs into her while she kicked and screamed and tried to pull away from him, but Damon had pulled him off of her and fought his deranged brother.

Elena had screamed for Stefan to stop what he was doing, but he had beaten Damon into unconsciousness, his madness rivaling Damon's normally superior strength. She'd been sure that Stefan was going to kill her, but something inside of him had seemed to click - just for a moment - and he gripped his head, howling in pain. When he looked back up he appeared to realize what he had done. Stefan had taken off, leaving a crying Elena to wonder if and when he would ever return.

When Elena regained her composure well enough to move, she crawled over to Damon, who was bleeding and still unconscious. "Damon!" she called out, gripping under his shoulders and pulling until she had his upper half leaned against her kneeling body. "Damon, wake up!" she urged, her own body shaking.

Over the last few days she and Damon had grown closer together, had developed and rhythm and began to appreciate each other. She didn't want to lose him when she was finally getting to know him.

"Come on, Damon, please," she pleaded, shaking him a little.

After a moment he began convulsing, coughing up blood and gripping her shoulder with his hand around behind him. "Where is he?" Damon rasped, trying to gather himself together.

Elena was filled with such relief that she started crying again. "I don't know," she answered, shaking her head and gripping his shirt where she held him against her. "He took off after he ... hurt you."

Damon nodded, struggling to sit up. "He might be back."

Elena sniffled, worried but trying to be strong for Damon. "You won't be able to fight him again."

Damon shook his head, trying to control his coughing. "I need blood."

Elena glanced down at her wrist, feeling it twitch of its own accord. "I -"

Damon cut her off. "No. Not yours," he told her. "There's some in the basement."

Elena shook her head. "I don't wanna leave you! He could come right back," she reasoned.

Damon struggled to get up, but she made him lie back down. "I'm not going to do that to you Elena, but I need the blood. It's in the fridge in the basement, it's the stash that Stefan stole. I need you to get me a few packets."

Elena wanted to argue, but she also knew she wasn't ready to have her blood drank again, so she steeled herself and carefully slid out from under the weak vampire. "I'll hurry," she promised.

She literally ran the entire way to the basement, rushing towards the fridge and tossing items out of the way so she could open it. She gasped at the amount blood in the fridge, realizing just how far Stefan had "fallen off the wagon" without her knowing.

_If you loved him as much as you said, you would have noticed,_ a little voice in her head told her. She pushed the thought away for the moment, ignoring the pit in her stomach and grabbing four packets of blood. She didn't know if it was too much or not enough, but she didn't want to spend another second away from him until she knew he was alright, so she slammed the fridge closed and ran back out of the basement, rushing back towards where she'd left him.

She rounded the corner and expected to see him lying on the floor, but he wasn't there. "Damon!" she called out, her body feeling numb as she stumbled into the room. She noticed a small blood trail leading away from where she'd left him, and followed it, her heart pounding, filling with dread. "Damon?"

Elena heard a groan and found him propped against the couch by the fireplace. She breathed a ragged sigh of relief, stomping over to him in a rush. "What are you doing?" she asked him, kneeling beside him and placing the blood packets on the couch by his head.

Damon opened his mouth to answer but his eyes rolled back and he couldn't hold his head up anymore. His body slackened against the couch, the light from the fire casting dancing shadows across his pale face.

"No," Elena whispered, clambering on top of him and shaking him lightly, not wanting to do him any further damage, but needing him to regain consciousness. "Damon, wake up!"

He didn't respond, so she grabbed the first packet of blood, struggling to work the spout part. Her trembling fingers worked against her, but she finally managed to get it working and grabbed the vampire's jaw, easing it open and placing the tip inside. She didn't know if he would be able to swallow, but she began to pour the blood into his mouth anyway.

A few seconds passed, and his mouth filled with blood, but it wouldn't go down. Elena panicked, but remembered reading about a boy who had fed his sick dog water by massaging his throat muscles, and after a moment's consideration she brought her fingers up to Damon's throat, rubbing awkwardly.

"Come on, please let it work," she willed, massaging his throat a little harder.

She felt the liquid beginning to move down his throat, and paused her movements, shocked and happy that it was working. "Oh, oops!" she spoke stupidly, realizing that she had stopped aiding him in drinking and immediately set back to work, rubbing his throat muscles even after her fingers ached.

The first packet emptied and she quickly opened the next one, getting ready to repeat her actions but as she placed her hands on Damon's throat she felt it twitch, and his mouth leaned towards the blood, hungry for more. She thrilled internally that he had re-awakened and simply held the blood up for him while he swallowed. He made a few attempts to take the bag from her to do it himself, but his limbs were too weak; he needed more blood, and she was feeding him the only acceptable way.

She fed him three of the packets before he had regained enough strength to hold the bag up himself. She busied herself with checking his wounds while he finished the last bag, turning his face this way and that and gently sliding the buttons of his shirt apart to check his chest.

Damon hissed when she opened his shirt and Elena forced herself to concentrate on the wounds Stefan had inflicted, and not on how inhumanly gorgeous he was, even as battered and bruised as he currently was.

"They'll heal," Damon grunted, finishing off the last bag and heaving a little.

"Are you sure?" Elena asked, her concern for him pouring off of him in waves.

Damon nodded. "They always do."

Elena breathed heavily, her head dipping forward. "I thought ... for a moment, I thought you'd ... gone and left me."

Damon looked at her, knowing that she was being completely sincere. It unnerved him, but no more than the fact that she was currently straddling his lap. That peaked his interest even through his pain and hunger. He cleared his throat, coughing a little. "I'll need more blood in a bit, but I think for now I'm good. Just need rest."

Elena nodded. "What's going to happen ... if Stefan comes back? Will he be just as ... will he still be like that?"

Damon shrugged. "I don't know. He's gone so long without human blood, it's changing him ... well, changing him back, really. There's no telling what he'll do." Damon looked steadily at Elena. "But I honestly never thought he'd hurt you, Elena."

Elena nodded, looking back at him. "You saved me."

Damon looked away. "Yeah, well ... any chance to pick a fight with the little brother."

Elena shook her head. "Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Pretend like you didn't do a good thing," Elena explained. "I don't expect you to start walking little old ladies across the street and handing out food to homeless people, but it wouldn't kill you to admit that you didn't want anything bad to happen to me. What you did was good ... don't try to take away from that, please."

Damon looked at the fire for a long time - it felt like minutes - before he finally sighed and nodded slowly. "Fine."

Elena blinked, happy to have won that one. "Do you think you can move?"

Damon considered it for a moment before he answered, "Not just yet."

She was visibly concerned, her hand moving to rest on his shoulder. "Why? What's wrong?"

Damon spoke as earnestly as he could. "I'm having a little difficulty moving my legs."

Elena grew more worried. "Oh no. What could have caused it? Did Stefan do something? Is it 'cause I had to force-feed you the blood?"

Damon couldn't help the twinkle in his eyes as he informed her. "No ... I seem to have a growth on them ... in the shape of an Elena Gilbert."

Elena realized what he was saying and blushed. "Oh ... sorry."

She moved to get off of him but Damon's hands slid up to her hips, halting her movements. "Hey, now ... I might need your body heat. You know, to speed up the healing process."

Elena rolled her eyes, the inappropriate humor taking her mind off the severity of their situation for the moment. "That might work on other girls, Damon Salvatore, but I know all about you," she reminded him. "Including the fact that you don't _need_ body heat."

Damon wiggled his eyebrows. "No, it's just a perk."

Elena heaved herself off of him, wondering if he would have tried to keep her there if he was at his full strength. "Come on, you should get up and move around ... get the blood pumping, so to speak."

Damon nodded, holding out his hand pathetically for her to take.

She did, but only because he looked so realistically pathetic. Elena glanced around at the room, noticing for the first time the damage that Stefan had done when he'd attacked Elena and fought Damon. They had a lot of cleaning up to do.

* * *

It had been two weeks, and still no sign of Stefan. Damon had made a habit of sneaking in Elena's window after she'd gone home and waiting for her to go to sleep. She hadn't felt safe staying at her home alone, and worried about Jenna and Jeremy, so Damon had offered to keep an eye on her, make sure she was safe.

Elena hadn't realized he'd meant it so literally.

Even when she wasn't facing him, she could tell his eyes were trained on her. He would watch her whether she was awake or asleep, invading her thoughts so much that she'd begun dreaming about him. She had grown accustomed to Stefan not being there, had realized that her feelings for him weren't as strong as she'd believed. If he ever did come back to Mystic Falls, she knew that he wouldn't become such a central part of her life again.

That place had already been filled, and she'd only then begun to realize it.

One night she rolled over to face Damon, not realizing that he'd slipped into the bed - he usually leaned against the windowsill or the wall. Her heart had almost literally skipped a beat, and she had to stop for a moment and just breathe. Finally she was able to speak. "What are you doing?"

Damon shrugged, glancing at her from where he had his head on a pillow, his hands linked behind his head and his feet crossed at the foot of the bed. "Counting the dots on your ceiling."

Elena glanced up, chuckling a little before looking back at him. "And that's entertaining?"

Damon shook his head. "Not really."

"Then why do it?" she wondered.

Damon sighed through his nose. "Because it keeps me busy, keeps me preoccupied."

Elena quirked an eyebrow, propping herself up and regarding him thoughtfully. "Preoccupied from doing what?"

Damon grinned wickedly.

Elena scoffed, rolling her eyes.

There was a moment of silence before Damon spoke again. "Actually, I'm not joking Elena ... for once."

She looked back up at him, confusion and hope in her eyes. "What?"

He shrugged, bringing his hands out from behind his head to drape over his stomach, his fingers still crossed together. "It's nothing."

Elena shook her head, moving an inch closer to him on the soft bed. "No, no," she told him. "You started saying something ... I want to know what you meant."

Damon turned his head to look at her with lidded eyes. "You know what I meant, Elena."

Another long silence passed before Elena could breathe properly. She wanted to believe that he was just teasing her again, pointless flirting or something ... but this time felt different. If she didn't know any better, she'd almost say he looked sincere.

"Despite everything that's happened, I think -"

Elena didn't wait for him to finish. She didn't want to spend another moment thinking about what could happen, and then later regretting not taking the chance. She leaned over and pressed her lips against Damon's moving mouth, stopping him mid-sound.

Damon didn't take long to respond, bringing his arms up to splay out across her back and pull her closer to him. He'd thought of this moment for so long, it was almost surreal to find it was actually happening. And the best part was, the only person he thought of while he was kissing her was Elena. Not the ghost of a girlfriend past, not the tainted love he'd clung onto for so long ... just Elena. Just beautiful, sexy, human Elena.

After a while Elena pulled back, her lips read and puffy and her eyes a bit glazed over. Damon looked similar, but had a better time collecting his thoughts and recovering from the feeling of her pressed all against him.

Elena stated, "I don't want a one-night stand, Damon. If we do this, we do it right."

Damon considered it, and though he didn't say it, he couldn't think of anyone else he'd want to do that with. He simply nodded his head, capturing her in another kiss before rolling them over so he was on top. When he pulled away to let her breathe, he couldn't stop himself from asking what would happen if Stefan came back.

He hadn't meant for it to come out sounding needy, and he hoped she didn't notice. He'd have to pull some other asshole stunt if she did ... he didn't want her thinking he'd suddenly gone soft.

Elena replied, "I'd be lying if I said I knew what was going to happen, but I know what isn't going to happen. If Stefan comes back, good or bad, I'm not getting back together with him. He lied to me."

Damon reasoned, "I lie too."

Elena nodded. "Yes, but I know when and why you lie. I can work around that."

Damon eyed her, wondering if she really knew him that well. He had plenty of time to figure that out, and since she'd declared she wouldn't be getting back with his little brother again, he dove in for another kiss, exploring every part of her body that she would allow him to that first night.

_Let there be many more to come_, their inner voices told them, though the only sounds that could be heard were ragged breathing and the occasional muffled giggle when Damon hit a particularly sensitive spot.

* * *

_The End. _

_What did you guys think? _

_Just a side-note disclaimer: the scene where Elena is massaging Damon's throat to get him to drink came from the book "Kavik the Wolf Dog", by Walt Morey, when Kavik is sick/dehydrated, and Andy gets him to drink by massaging his throat. _

_I may or may not add another chapter to this ... for now it's finished, but there is a possibility of adding a second chapter where Stefan does come back to Mystic Falls. _

_Reviews are appreciated, flame if you must, but constructive criticism is much more useful. _

_Until next time ...! _


	2. Chapter 2

_..._

_A Damon/Elena fic. _

_Chapter Two. _

_..._

_Disclaimer: See Ch. 1. _

_..._

_A/N: Well, I decided to add a second chapter to this after all. I'm glad you guys liked the first one. _

_This is, of course, what happens when Stefan comes back ... I can't wait to write it! _

_I hope you guys like it, I know I'll love writing it!_

_Also, thank you so much to everyone's who's read and reviewed all my Vampire Diaries stories, you guys make me want to never stop writing! Love ya! _

_Let's get on with it, shall we? (Side-note, the following contains scenes of violence and coarse language ... lol, really only one swear)._

_As always, please read and review, I live for feedback! _

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It had been nearly three months since Stefan had disappeared. Three months of looking over her shoulder, three months of explaining to Jenna and her friends what had happened - a considerably censored version of the events, of course. Three months of wondering it things would ever die down, or f the relentless questions would ever end, because she was also going on three months of being with Damon.

She was happy, and for the most part people respected that, but no one could understand what she saw in Damon, particularly Alaric and Bonnie.

She had only needed to ask herself that question once. Yes, he'd done horrible things in the past; no, he wasn't the nicest guy in the world; yeah, he drank human blood ... but Elena also knew that there was so much more to him than that.

It wasn't as though being in a relationship with her had suddenly turned him into a whole new person - which only made her respect him more - but she saw more sides of him now. She almost preferred the fact that he didn't go to school with her; it was nice to be away from him during the day, so it was much more satisfying when she saw him afterwards. Sometimes he picked her up from school to bring her right back to the boarding house, other times he picked her up at home to take her out for the evening. Her favorite nights were when he took her dancing.

He would find the most amazing places for them to go, the most hilariously themed bars or clubs, and when needed he would compel the bouncers to let her into the club, though she rarely drank enough to get drunk ... that night in Georgia had been enough.

Last night they'd gone to a cowboy-style bar two towns over, and she'd laughed harder than she had in a long time - Damon's outfit being the source of most of her laughter. _Spurs, really?_

Jenna had accepted Elena's relationship with Damon, as she wasn't exactly one to preach about falling for the "bad boys", but she had put her foot down about Elena staying the night at the boarding house. That didn't stop Damon from climbing in her window every night, of course.

Life was going pretty good for Elena Gilbert.

Maybe if it hadn't she would have been more prepared for what happened when she rounded the corner on her way to History one average day at school.

"Elena," he greeted, standing directly in her way.

Her heart paused momentarily, and then started pounding furiously. "Stefan."

He smiled a little weakly. "I'm back."

Elena began stepping away.

Stefan followed her, confusion in his eyes. "What are you doing?"

Elena answered, "Stefan, the last time I saw you, you tried to feed off me, and nearly killed your brother. Forgive me for being a little on-edge."

Stefan sighed. "I know, I'm so sorry about that, Elena. I wasn't myself. I never would have hurt you if I hadn't been on the human blood."

Elena remained wary. "And you're telling me you're off of it now?"

Stefan nodded. "Completely. I put myself into seclusion until the cravings stopped, and I waited until I was completely under control to come back. Elena, I'm sorry that I hurt you, and I'll apologize to Damon too. I just need to know that you still care about me."

Elena looked at the ground, feeling awkward. "Look, Stefan, if you've come back to try and get me back ... you should know I'm with someone else now."

Stefan furrowed his brow. "You're back with Matt?"

Elena shook her head. "No, not him."

Stefan ran through the list of guys that Elena knew, unable to decipher which of them Elena would start dating after he'd left. "Okay, who then?"

Elena looked away. "I'm not really comfortable discussing this with you."

Stefan nodded slowly. "Okay, well whoever it is ... I just hope they're treating you right."

Elena nodded, still wary in his presence. "Yeah, he is."

Stefan shuffled his books in his hands, motioning towards the classroom up ahead. "Well, I guess we'd better get to class."

Elena asked, "You're coming back to school? Just like that?"

Stefan nodded. "I want to pick up the pieces of my life, Elena. I want things to go back to the way they were."

_They'll never be the way they were,_ Elena thought, but said nothing, sidetracking the classroom for the bathroom. "I'll, uh, be there in a minute."

Stefan watched her leave, wanting to follow her, but controlled the urge, deciding that he would have to use a more subtle approach to get Elena to take him back. It was all worthless if he didn't have her.

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"He's back," Elena spoke into the phone in the bathroom after turning on all of the taps and moving into the stall furthest away from the door so that Stefan wouldn't hear her conversation.

She could hear Damon sit up from where he'd been lounging when she'd called him. "Stefan?"

Elena nodded, saying into the phone, "I don't know when he got back, but he's here now, at school ... he says he's cured. Says he's off the human blood."

Damon scoffed, switching hands and tossing a shirt on. "Do you believe him?"

Elena hesitated a moment, thinking. "No ... I don't know."

"Do you need me to come get you?" Damon asked her.

Elena thought about it and after a moment made her decision. "Yeah. I'll tell the office I'm going home sick for the day. I don't know if I believe him, and I don't really want to be sitting next to him right now when I'm worried about him freaking out on everyone."

Damon couldn't agree more. "I'll be there in ten."

"Thanks."

Elena went to the office, convinced them she had a stomach ache and a migraine, told them she would come back tomorrow if she was feeling better, and grabbed her stuff out of her locker, making her way outside to wait for Damon.

He arrived in 7 minutes, hopping out of the car after he parked and meeting her halfway across the quad. "Have you seen him since you called me?"

Elena shook her head. "No, I left right after."

Damon nodded, leading her towards his car with a hand on her lower back.

Elena paused when the reached the car, turning around to face him. "He, um ... wanted to get back together with me."

Damon attempted to hide his jealousy and uneasiness, looking around before asking her, "And what did you say?"

"I told him that I was with someone else," Elena told him honestly.

Damon nodded, feeling a little better. "Did you tell him who?"

She shook her head. "No, I didn't know how he would react."

Damon nodded again, rubbing her hip with his hand. "Probably smart."

Elena thought she could hear a little antagonism in his voice, so she added, "I'm not ashamed to be with you, Damon. I'd march in there right now and tell him about us if it would make you feel more secure."

Damon scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I'm plenty secure."

"Right," Elena teased. "If you say so."

Damon walked forward, pressing her against the side of the car before devouring her mouth. A few minutes later he pulled back, smiling at her dazed expression. "As I said: plenty secure."

The two of them got into the car and drove away, oblivious to the eyes watching them from the around the corner of the furthest wall of the school.

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Damon waited in the living room of the boarding house, sipping a glass of scotch. He knew his brother would eventually come back to the boarding house, and hoped it would be that night. He had Alaric on alert at Elena's house, and had even enlisted Anna's help in the matter. She was to protect Jeremy and Elena if Stefan should go there that night instead of home. It was a win-win plan, because Anna was itching to kill someone since her mother's death, and had only been holding back because of Jeremy. Now Damon had given her something to focus on.

Damon was counting on his brother confronting him. He didn't think it would take too long for the younger vampire to realize exactly who had wormed their way into Elena's heart, and when he finally did, Damon didn't expect Stefan would take it lying down. He was actually itching for a rematch.

"Hello, brother," Stefan commented from somewhere behind him, and Damon turned, actually surprised. Stefan hadn't been able to sneak up on him in decades. Almost a century.

"Well, well, well," Damon commented, sipping his scotch. "Look what the cat dragged in."

Stefan grinned, stepping into the room and eyeing Damon. "So, how long was I gone before you forced yourself into Elena's pants?"

Damon's eyebrows rose at that. "Excuse me?"

Stefan continued, "Well, obviously she didn't go to you willingly. Elena's smarter that that."

Damon shook his head with a dry chuckle, setting his now empty glass on the table beside him. "You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."

The younger Salvatore pressed on. "I mean, I know you're desperate to get Katherine back and all, but fucking her carbon copy is a bit much, isn't it? I mean, at least I had actual feelings for her."

Damon was in Stefan's face before he could blink, gripping his neck. "You can shut up right about now."

Stefan laughed. "Oh, I'm sorry ... did I hurt your sensitive feelings?"

Damon narrowed his eyes at his brother and inhaled through his nose, sniffing the "vibes" coming off of Stefan. "You lied," Damon commented, tightening his grip. "You're not off the human blood."

Stefan grinned. "Come on ... did you really think I would be?"

"Right, silly me ... thinking you'd actually tell the truth to someone you were trying to win back," Damon retorted.

Stefan held his brother's stare, bringing his own hands up to fight him off. "Oh, I won't have to _win_ her back, Damon. After I kill you, she'll have no other choice but to come back to me."

Damon hissed, his fangs descending, and the two began throwing each other around the room. The release of energy he felt and pounding his fists into his brother was definitely cathartic. _I should do this more often,_ he told himself.

Stefan was stronger with human blood in his system than he usually was with the animal blood, but Damon was prepared this time, and not worried about protecting Elena while he was fighting Stefan. She was safe at home, with a vampire and a vampire hunter protecting her.

He planned on giving him the beating of his life, then shoving his ass in the cellar again - shackled up this time. Eventually he would be forced to detox from the human blood, and he would be back to his old, miserable, self-pitying, gloomy ways.

Apparently, though, Stefan had other ideas. As Damon loomed over him he shot his legs out, knocking him down and immediately jumping back up and attacking Damon.

Damon growled in response, turning to shove his fist into his brother's gut but Stefan was ready for that, and he caught Damon under the jaw with his own fist. Damon flew across the room, cracking his back into the mantle above the fireplace. He could feel his bones crack from the contact and he lay still where he had fallen, incapacitated for the moment. He would heal well enough to move in a few minutes, but he doubted that Stefan would give him the chance.

"You know, it was bad enough for you, knowing that you weren't enough for Katherine ... that she wasn't happy only having you for all eternity," Stefan taunted, sliding up beside Damon and crouching over him. "But it's gotta sting knowing that Elena only wanted to be with you after I left. I mean, you were basically a placeholder, brother."

Damon growled, glaring daggers with his eyes at his brother.

Stefan snickered, grabbing Damon's open jacket and picking him up, tossing him as though he were a rag doll.

He hit the top of the couch, knocking it back with him as he fell. Damon groaned in pain, but as he looked over he saw a piece of wood poking out from the couch. _Right ... one of the stakes I hid in case this very thing happened. Awesome remembering, Damon_.

He was sore, and his body groaned in protest, but he shifted towards the couch, gripping the stake in his hand and pulling it free, waiting for his brother to approach him again. He hid the stake by his side, feeling his body healing, slowly but surely.

Stefan was up and over the couch in a single jump, leaning forward on all fours so that he was hovering over Damon menacingly. "You know, you preach and you preach about how carefree you are, and about how weak I am ... who's weak now, brother?" He punched Damon in the face, rearing his fist back immediately after.

Damon took the hit, allowing his body to heal enough so that he would be able to fight back.

"What, don't tell me you're tapped out?" Stefan taunted.

Damon forced a grin onto his face, meeting his brother's eyes. "Not even close," he replied, moving his arm up and shoving the stake into Stefan's chest, almost hitting his heart. It wouldn't kill him with that ring on his finger, but it hurt like hell.

Stefan gasped in pain, glancing down at the object imbedded in his chest in shock.

Damon shoved Stefan off of him, getting up slowly and watching his brother writhe in pain.

"Yeah ... I soaked the tip in vervain," Damon informed him. "How's that feel?" Knowing that his brother would be unable to move for a while, he walked across the room, grabbing a box that had been hidden behind several books. He pulled out a syringe and stalked back towards Stefan. "You know, as much as I would love to kill you and be done with it ... I think you deserve to suffer just a little bit longer. Not only for what you _thought_ you were going to do to Elena ... but for everything." Damon stabbed the needle a little too forcefully into Stefan's neck, filling him with vervain. Once he was completely unconscious he pulled the stake out of his chest and tossed it aside. He dragged him to the basement cellar by his feet, smirking to himself as he _accidentally_ bumped his head on the stairs they went down. Once he had Stefan sufficiently shackled he gripped his hand and tore the ring off of his finger, pocketing it to hide it later.

With a final look at his brother he walked out of the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. He fished his phone out of his pocket, pressing his speed dial and calling Elena.

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After finally coming off the human blood - for real this time - Stefan had to face everything he had done. He could barely face Elena, knowing what he had planned on doing to her, and he couldn't believe that it had been Damon to be the one step up and save her.

He made the decision himself to leave Mystic Falls, promising not to come back. Before he left, however, he asked Elena to talk with him in private.

They met at the Grill - Elena's choice, because it was crowded and even if he tried to do something, Damon was hovering around out of Stefan's sight.

"I promise I'll never bother you again, Elena, but before I leave, I feel like I should give you this warning," Stefan told her.

Elena figured she knew what he was talking about, but let him continue.

"Damon is not who you think he is," Stefan told her, looking into her eyes soulfully. "I know that he seems as though he has good intentions, and I know that he's made you trust him, but I need you to understand how dangerous he is. He's only using you, Elena. He has some ulterior motive, I know it, and I don't want you to get hurt."

Elena shook her head, crossing her arms. "Okay, you can stop there."

Stefan sighed. "I know you don't want to hear this, but -"

Elena cut him off. "You're right, I don't. I'm not stupid, Stefan, nor am I naive. Not anymore. See, I trusted a vampire, and he hurt me. But it wasn't Damon, it was you," she reminded him. "You can't understand that Damon's feelings for me are real - as are mine for him - and I'm not going to try and make you understand. He didn't make me trust him, I gave him my trust, and he hasn't spoiled it. I don't need you to look out for me, Stefan, I'm a big girl, and I can take care of myself. And when I can't, Damon will."

Stefan looked away, hurt.

Elena took a breath, knowing that Damon could hear her, wherever he was. "Damon and I understand each other, we don't have anything to hide. I've fallen in love with him ... so you need to leave, and stop lecturing me on how he's using me. I don't have any interest in hearing it, Stefan. Goodbye."

Stefan didn't want to accept it, but he didn't want to hurt her anymore, so he nodded and stood from the table. When he turned he saw Damon watching them with a poorly concealed expression of shock on his face and sighed before nodding to his brother and leaving the restaurant, and then leaving Mystic Falls.

Elena waited for Damon to slide into the booth across from her, looking down at the table.

"You mean that?" he asked her, surprising her by sitting next to her on the cushioned seat.

Elena slowly brought her eyes up to look at him, nodding her head. "You're all I need, Damon. I don't know when it happened ... but I fell in love with you." She looked sad as she said the words.

Damon brushed his fingers across her cheek before his fingers turned her face to look at him. "Why are you crying?"

Her eyes had begun to water, though she tried her hardest to keep the tears in. "Because I don't know if you can ever love me, too. After everything Katherine did ... I don't know how you could ever feel something that strong for me."

Damon shook his head, slowly bringing his lips to hers. This only made Elena cry harder, and the tears slid down her cheeks. "Don't cry, Elena," he whispered softly. "You're wrong. What I feel for you ... I've never felt this before, not even with Katherine. Maybe I am in love with you, I'm not sure. But I wanna find out, if you'll let me."

Elena looked at him in surprise, and after a moment she nodded.

Damon waited for her to wipe her tears away before he took her hand in his and slid out of the booth. "Come on, let's get out of this dump, it's depressing."

Elena chuckled, rolling her eyes and feeling the mood lighten considerably. "Well, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, I thought maybe you could help me rearrange some furniture in my room ... now that Stefan's out of here, I get the bigger room," he told her.

Elena considered that for a moment. "I don't know ... I've always liked your room."

Damon quirked an eyebrow at her. "Really?"

Elena smiled. "Although, to be fair, I haven't spent a lot of time in there. I can't really make an informed decision."

He grinned wolfishly, making his way out of the Grill with her at his side. "Well, we'll just have to see what we can do to fix that."

They were already clawing at each other's clothing when they finally made it back to the boarding house, and ended up spending the entire day in his bedroom. Neither of them complained when Damon decided to leave his room as is, with one notable exception: he cleared away space in his closet and drawers for Elena to move some of her stuff in. It only took a little convincing get Elena to allow Damon to compel Jenna into letting her spend nights at the boarding house with Damon.

.....................................................................................................................................................................................

_The end. For real this time. _

_I hope you guys enjoyed the conclusion, I might do the same with my other Damon/Elena fics that are listed as complete ... we'll see. _

_Reviews are appreciated, flame if you must, but constructive criticism is much more useful. _

_Until next time ...! _


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